Connects New York to London in an hour by plane, an American company’s crazy plan – Oyster-France evening edition

American company Ariane has been working on supersonic aircraft projects for many years. His idea: can travel around the world in less than three hours. The company recently introduced a device that can turn dreams into reality.

Twice as fast as Concord: This is the speed that American aircraft manufacturer Ariane Corporation wants to achieve. The company, which first worked on the development of supersonic commercial aircraft with the AS2 aircraft model, now deals with long-haul aircraft. With a crazy goal in mind: to build a device capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in an hour, connecting New York with London.

Twice as fast as the Concord

Ariane’s promise: to build a plane with a capacity of 50 passengers for business passengers, all at speeds ranging from Mach 3 to Mach 5. I.e. about 3,700 km / h at a speed of about 6 100 km / h. Almost seven times faster than a traditional long-haul plane. The speed of the Concord, which extended commercial flights from 1976 to 2003, was 2,145 km / h at Mach 2.

On March 29, 2021, the company unveiled the device that could make this ambitious project a reality: the Ariane AS3. “We want to create a future where mankind can travel between any part of our planet in three hours,” he said. Ariane CEO Tom Wise explains, In a press release.

AS3 was born out of the positive results of the previous model, the AS2, a supersonic commercial aircraft prototype whose production is set to begin in 2023 and commercialization is expected in 2026. The first flight, on the other hand, is scheduled for 2024.

This first flight, which can accommodate 8 to 12 passengers, promises to connect New York with London in 4 hours. The first objective is to push the CEO “Pushing Possible Limits”, To “Really revolutionizes the global movement”. To that end, the company recently joined forces with a key ally to achieve its goals: the US space agency NASA.

Also read: Plans for supersonic civil aircraft are proliferating in the United States.

What is the impact on the environment?

It is ambitious to want to do better than Concord, but take some precautionary measures. One of the arguments that led to the abandonment of the French aircraft in 2003 was the catastrophic environmental impact of the aircraft in particular. “Concord was an amazing piece of equipment, but it produced a lot of CO emissions₂ To the environment, the more noise in our communities, the more expensive its operation ”. Tom Wise explained CNN Journey In 2020.

Ariane’s various supersonic aircraft projects will specifically use fuels “100% synthetic”, But air capture technologies to reduce CO emissions₂.

Engineers are working to solve the sound problem of devices, using technology to block noise when hitting the sound barrier, he says Forbes . “We hope we have resolved this issue. Refers to the CEO CNN. Our flight will be as quiet as other flights around the airports. “

See when the device can be manufactured and marketed. Other companies, such as Boom and Virgin Galactic, are busy discovering Concord’s successor.